Thousands of Urine and Tissue Samples Are in Danger of Rotting After Staff Cuts at a CDC Laboratory

Seven federal workers who abruptly lost their jobs in recent weeks say they are worried that thousands of biological samples—from human urine to frozen rodent organs—may be left to rot in a government laboratory in West Virginia. The workers left behind the samples, which they say include lungs, spleens, and brains collected from rats and mice, after the Trump administration laid off or placed on administrative leave about two-thirds of the staff working at facilities managed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) earlier this month. The NIOSH researchers collected the tissue samples as part of experiments to determine how Americans may be impacted by chemicals and other substances they are exposed to at their jobs. Some of the samples are stored in a refrigerator that needs to be kept at -112 Farenheit at all times, while others are stored in liquid nitrogen. Unless someone inside the federal government continues to ensure the liquid nitrogen doesn’t tot ... Read full article.